Plan to tempt tired heads

Burnt-out head teachers who seek early retirement could be encouraged to return to teaching until they reach 60 under proposals from their local authority employers.

The move would allow heads who no longer wanted the pressure of running a school the chance to stay on at work under less stressful conditions while also saving on pensions payments, the Local Government Education Employers said yesterday.

The suggestion is part of a package of measures aimed at cutting the growing bill for teachers' pensions. In exchange for accepting some concessions, the authorities want Gillian Shephard Secretary of State for Education and Employment, to delay the introduction of new pensions rules from Easter until next September, though that is considered unlikely. There are fears that there will be an exodus of older staff before the deadline.